The Chiesa di San Filippo Apostolo (Church of St. Philip the Apostle) in St. Philip Square is a historic gem in Ortigia’s Jewish quarter. Rather than just admire the sanctuary though, consider taking the underground tour. The church dates to 1742, however the crypt goes back centuries. Jews lived inside the wall of the city during the 15th century, and they used the old hellenistic well – still present – as their Mikveh, a bath for the purpose of ritual immersion to achieve purity. They also built a spiral staircase that leads to it from the street level. Additionally, there were thousands of citizens who hid in the vast underground tunnels during WWII, and there are pencil drawings of allied planes by witnesses on the walls. The whole area is fascinating. Previously the tour was by donation only, but now they charge 5€ per person. It’s worth the money, even though the tour guide’s English is primitive at best. Even Cherry Wonderdog, who’s fluent in canine and English, missed about 60% of what he said. Moreover, the tour pitch was given rather quickly without sufficient opportunity for folks to meander, explore, and take pictures of the key sights. In brief, it was too rushed. Five stars on the location. Three stars for the tour. That makes four stars total on the Cherry Wonderdog scale.

They were so welcoming! We stopped in and took the guided tour underneath the church. Truly incredible, so much history to see from so many different periods.Our guide was so friendly and informative! A wonderful hidden gem!

Far exceeded expectations. Impossible to imagine the amazing trip through time as you venture down through the levels below the Church. The Greeks or their slaves must have been really good diggers and tunnellers. You need to be pretty agile to negotiate all of the steps but it's well worth the effort. The story of the air raid shelter level is quite something on its own. Then on down to the Greek well and Jewish Miqveh level is just as interesting.